randy obrien

Are your dreams trying to tell you something? Dreams are intriguing phenomena that have captivated humans for centuries. Some people believe dreams are messages from our subconscious, revealing our hidden desires, fears, or conflicts. Others think dreams are just random images and sensations our brain produces during sleep. But what does science say about the relationship between dreams and the subconscious mind? And how can we use our dreams to better understand ourselves and our conscious minds? And what can creative writers take away from the idea that our subconscious minds are where we do our best writing? One way to approach this question is to examine the process of dream recall, or how we remember our dreams. Dream recall is not straightforward, as most of us forget our dreams soon after waking up. However, some people can recall their dreams more frequently and vividly than others, and some factors can influence the likelihood of dream recall, such as sleep quality, emotio...

 Writing your novel can feel nearly impossible, but many techniques can help keep your readers engaged. One such method is using parallel stories, which writers can use to create tension and suspense. An effective way to do this is to end your scenes so that you cut between them at moments that leave your readers hanging. Writers sometimes call this technique “Meanwhile, back at the ranch.” The nickname dates back to silent movies when title cards between scenes signaled transitions. In the earliest days, studios didn’t make new cards for each movie but used a set of stock cards: “One Year Later,” “Comes the Dawn,” or “Wedding Bells.” “Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch” was the card used most often when the action, for example, cut away from the heroine being tied to a log just as the villain turned on the sawmill. The literary version of this technique dates back to at least Homer. Still, it was probably perfected in the nineteenth century when newly popular magazines serialized nov...